April 21, 2022
Presented by Aaron Fox, 2022 President of Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS® and Becky Gean, Esq., Director of Legal Education with Michigan Realtors®
1. Golden Rule of Real Estate Advertising….”Describe the property not the person!”
2. “Perfect for ______,” is a dangerous sentence when it comes to advertising properties and should be avoided.
3. There are federal protected classes as well as Michigan specific protected classes. Federal protected classes include race, color, religion, disability, familial status, national origin and sex. Additional protected classes according to Michigan law include age and marital status.
4. Article 10 of the Code of Ethics must be upheld by all REALTORS®. Article 10 states “REALTORS® shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS® shall not be parties to any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS®, in their real estate employment practices, shall not discriminate against any person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
5. According to Michigan law (MCL 339.2512e) any advertising displayed or published on or after January 1, 2018 that includes the name of an associate broker or salesperson, or a cooperating group of associate brokers or salespersons employed by the same real estate broker, shall include all of the following: a) The telephone number or street address of the employing broker. b) The licensed business name of the employing broker, in equal or greater type size than the name of the associate broker, salesperson, or cooperating group.
6. Requiring the identification of the broker as the primary point of contact and supervision dovetails with the fact that the employing broker is responsible for any liability, including fair housing issues, arising from the practice of agents within that brokerage.
7. Advertisements for housing cannot be marketed directly to or away from members of a protected class
8. Fair Housing Centers have “cautionary” word lists to help keep advertisements compliant. These are great tools but not a failsafe.
9. The law applies to advertising in social media just as much as it does to traditional media. Social media reaches a broader audience than what print media does and therefore has larger impact.
10. Brokerages may be held liable as publisher for any advertising their agents do that violates fair housing law. Damage control can be done by having and enforcing a social media policy.